


Does Not Share Well with Others

by Telesilla



Series: Baseball's In Your Blood [3]
Category: Baseball RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Baseball, Introspection, M/M, San Francisco Giants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 12:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2025048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telesilla/pseuds/Telesilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Like the duck call, jealousy is part and parcel of being a vampire, but this is different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Does Not Share Well with Others

3:30 am; Monday November 1, 2010

Buster rolled out of Tim's arms and onto his stomach about three hours ago. Watching him sleep, seeing his steady even breaths, makes Tim smile. For all that Buster gets annoyed with the press narrative--that he's so mature for his age--it's true. Tim's not sure he knows any other twenty-three year old who could sleep this easily and this deeply the night before the most important game of his life. And yes, the sex they had earlier probably helped, but still, as they've gotten closer and closer to the goal, Buster's gotten steadier and steadier.

Tonight, as half of a rookie battery, Buster looked like a ten year veteran. And Bumgarner....

Buster might not know it yet, but it's not entirely a joke when Tim says he's jealous of Bumgarner. Not for any romantic reason, although he knows that, if Bumgarner were even a little interested, he and Buster wouldn't have made it out of San Jose without hooking up. But that's the past. What Tim's jealous of is what he saw tonight. Bumgarner was brilliant and Buster handled him perfectly; Bumgarner only shook Buster off once or twice. Maybe it's just that Tim's been watching Buster so closely for the last several months, or maybe their connection is already that strong, but he's sure he could actually feel how focused Buster was behind the plate. Focused on Bumgarner, locked into the easy rhythm they have together, the steady rapport.

What would it be like? Tim wonders. When he wasn't soft tossing balls during games up in the camps, he'd played around with the ball--trying to throw it fast or make it move up or down, from side to side. If he played now, he thinks he would be good. Even before being Turned, he'd had very good hand-eye coordination and, now, having watched baseball as long as he has, he knows he had a knack for it. Now, though, he doesn't even try. He'll take BP, but while he can hold back with a bat in his hand, he can't with a ball, which makes it too dangerous for anyone to catch him. The few times in the past he tried throwing into a net, he'd torn it, but he'd also kept the ball in the strike zone. He only did it those few times though; it hurt too much in a way that hitting never does.

What would it be like, to take the mound tomorrow with Buster behind the dish? What would it be like to feel that kind of connection--something that has nothing to do with being vampire and Companion? What would it be like to be someone Buster works with, someone he's gone over scouting reports and film with? Someone he's talked pitching with?

For a moment, it's not just Bumgarner Tim has problems with. He feels a sudden, startlingly fierce, wave of anger at Kershaw and Cain, Sanchez and Zito, and the whole damn bullpen. They get Buster's undivided attention pitch after pitch, for eight half innings at the very minimum. Buster's even said it's easier to ignore Tim's scrutiny when he's catching than when he's hitting or running the bases. Why? Because it's all about calling the game, all about his pitcher.

Well then, Tim thinks. Like the duck call, jealousy is part and parcel of being a vampire, but had no idea he had this kind of professional jealousy in him. The more he thinks about it though, the more he realizes it all boils down to the same thing--Buster's his and Tim doesn't want to share him with anyone else. Better get used to it, he tells himself. He has to share Buster with the staff and the rest of the team and the press and just about every fucking baseball fan everywhere. He'll have to do it for the next fifteen, maybe twenty years, so he better start dealing with it now, before it gets out of hand.

He sighs. Buster might love Bumgarner (Tim's pretty sure he does and always has), and he's close to Kershaw and Cain, and down through the years there will be other pitchers Buster makes that deeper connection with. Tim really needs to be all right with that, because it'll be good for the team. Because it's already Buster's team. Because Rags and Boch and even Sabean are starting to take that into consideration, starting to realize that in a few years, Buster will be a second pitching coach. Because he'll train up rookie pitchers and turn journeymen into big leaguers and make good veterans even better. Because he's that good and the game means that much to him. Because he can't give it anything less than his all.

Reaching out, Tim rests a hand on the back of Buster's neck. As soon as he does, Buster sighs a little in his sleep and leans into the touch without waking. Maybe Tim will have to share Buster with baseball for Spring Training and batting practice and games and post game interviews and various appearances, but then, the doors will close behind them and Buster will look at Tim with that expression he gets. The one that somehow manages to say "I've chosen to be yours. I've allowed myself to submit to you."

His hand tightens a little on Buster's neck and Buster stirs and mumbles, "wha?"

"Mine," Tim says.

"Mmmmm...yeah," Buster says, his voice thick. "Yours. Always."

Then he settles back down to sleep and Tim settles back down to watch him.

Baseball can have Buster Posey in the morning. Right now, he's all Tim's.

_-end-_

**Author's Note:**

> This is essentially a tag for "I Want to Taste the Way that You Bleed." I had planned it as an epilogue, but I found that, after 63,000 words of Buster POV, the POV shift was too jarring.


End file.
